2014-15 Conference Champs

Wildcats Take Fourth at Graceland Invite

Kaci Dillingham finished in 10th-place at this weekend's Graceland Invite

MARYVILLE, Mo. – The Baker University men's and women's golf teams competed in the Graceland University Spring Invitational over the weekend at the Mozingo Lake Golf Course in Maryville, Mo.

The men's squad took home first place out of 11 teams, while the women finished fourth out of 14 squads.

For the first time in his career, Alex Zuzelski finished in first-place individually with a first round 72, second round 75 and total round of 147, finishing three shots ahead of Ashford's Matt Chiasson.

Sophomore Grant Grego finished in the Top 5 with his 153 and Andy Kelley also finished in the Top 10 with his sixth-place finish two-day score of 155.

"I was very pleased with our effort and ability to ignore difficult weather conditions over the weekend," said head coach Karen Exon. "Although we had only six days of outdoor practice leading up to this first spring tournament the guys have put in significant offseason indoor work in the weight room, wellness center, and our indoor practice cages.

"Our senior leadership from Alex Zuzelski and Andy Kelley was another big factor in our success over the weekend—they have done a great job of leading by example as well as working with the younger guys and making the entire team accountable. By finishing first in the field of 11 men's team, the guys beat AIB from the Des Moines area, a team that received ranking votes in the most recent NAIA national ranking, as well as the 4 HAAC Conference teams. The team beat nearest HAAC competitor Culver-Stockton by 16 strokes and Central Methodist University by 24 strokes."

On the women's side, Lindsey Mateer took home second-place with her first day 85 and second day 80 for a total of 165, just five shots behind first-place Demi Coertze of William Penn.

Kaci Dillingham joined Mateer in the Top 10 with her tenth-place finish two-day score of 172.

"Our fourth-place finish in this 14-team field was solid," said Exon. "We beat all the teams that we were supposed to and we are capable of beating the teams that finished ahead of us at this first spring tournament."